New York, March 29, 2013 – Morrison & Foerster LLP is pleased to announce that Jerry Marlatt has been selected by The American Lawyer as a “Dealmaker of the Year” for his work as issuer’s counsel for Royal Bank of Canada on its landmark covered bond offering program. This was the first covered bond deal ever registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Mr. Marlatt was honored for leading the Morrison & Foerster team advising the bank in obtaining the no-action letter relief necessary to permit the transaction, and navigating the registration and issuance process. Registration allows covered bonds to be marketed to a larger group of potential investors, broadening the U.S. market for these securities.
The article recognizes Jerry Marlatt’s role as a covered bond pioneer, responsible for many of the market innovations in the area in the United States, including working on the first covered bond program for a U.S. depository institution, the first covered bond offering into the United States on a 144A basis, and now the first U.S. registered deal. This depth of expertise has contributed to making Morrison & Foerster a market leader in covered bonds, as well as secured and unsecured financings for foreign banks in the United States. Marlatt has championed U.S. covered bond legislation, serves on SIFMA’s Covered Bond Council, and writes and speaks regularly on covered bonds.
The innovative nature of the Royal Bank of Canada transaction was recognized as well by The Cover, a Euromoney publication, which honored it with the Editor’s Choice award for most innovative deal of 2012. M&A Advisor recognized the transaction as its Debt Deal of the Year. Most recently, the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) named the transaction Structured Finance and Securitization Deal of the Year at its 2013 IFLR Americas Awards. See http://www.mofo.com/Covered-Bonds-Services/ for more.